GRAIN OFFERING

SPECIAL TOPIC: GRAIN OFFERING (Leviticus 2:1-16)

Introduction
1. This chapter deals with the grain offering
2. Grain offering was from the root meaning "gift." It became a technical term for non-animal, or vegetable gifts.
3. After the Exile the grain offering appears as a supplement to the burnt offering and peace offering and the rabbis say it could be offered alone by the very poor.
4. Salt covenant was also mentioned in Num. 18:19 and 2 Chr. 13:5. Salt was the opposite of leaven. It was used as a symbol of the covenant of God because it was non-corruptible and lasting.
The Grain Offering involved one's labor being given to God.
1. It was a gift to God from the daily food of the people.
2. It was generally a supplement (especially in post-exile days) to the burnt or peace offering.
3. Sacrifice was God's provision for the priest. Only a small part was burnt as a memorial of the whole.
4. The word "memorial" describes the offered portion, or that part which brings the whole before the Lord.
5. New Testament concept of the Lord's Supper as "memorial" expresses this Old Testament concept.
6. The distinction between the terms "holy" and "most holy" are:
  1. "holy" ‒ priest and family could eat it at any clean place
  2. "most holy" ‒ could only be eaten by the priests and in the court of the Tent of Meeting
Types
1. Unbaked flour (for the rich), Lev. 2:1-3
2. Baked loaves or cake, Lev. 2:4-11
3. Green ears of corn or wheat (for the poor), Lev. 2:12-16
  1. Unbaked flour was the highest offering. It was the very best of wheat flour.
  2. Baked cakes
    (1) oil was an ingredient
    (2) prepared in oven, Lev. 2:4.
    (3) on a baking iron, Lev. 2:5.
    (4) in an earthen frying pan, Lev. 2:7.
  3. Green ears of corn or wheat
    (1) must be parched
    (2) broken into coarse grits
    (3) arranged like a meal set before guests.
Ingredients
1. Fine flour corresponded to an animal without blemish
2. Oil was a symbol of prosperity and, therefore, a symbol of God's presence
  1. used for food, sacrificing, medicine, and anointing
  2. possibly use of oil was to replace offering of oil
3. Frankincense was from India or Arabia
  1. seen as a very pure thing with a wonderful fragrance
  2. symbolized prayer and praise
4. Salt
  1. life-giving as well as preserving qualities
  2. possibly more for table fellowship than for preserving
5. Elements excluded
  1. Leaven excluded, Lev. 2:11 (1) possibly because of fermentation
    (2) leaven associated with corruption
    (3) could be offered with first fruits and to priest
  2. Honey excluded
    (1) syrup was from fruit not honey bee
    (2) possibly because of its use in Canaanite ritual
Ritual of Offering
1. It was brought to the priest. He handled the whole ceremony (Lev. 2:2, 9,16).
2. Part of the offering was to be eaten by priest in the sanctuary. It was most holy.
Significance
1. Present from inferior to superior
2. Burning of a portion of it represented the consecration of a portion of one's labor to God
3. Apparent meaning
  1. Burnt offering ‒ consecration of one's life
  2. Meal offering ‒ dedication of one's daily labor
Special Instructions for Grain Offering, Lev. 6:14-23
1. Offering in front of altar
2. Labor offered the gift to God, but in reality it supported the priesthood
Ancient sacrifices were offered to
1. appease an angry deity
2. feed a deity
3. communicate with a deity
4. praise a deity
5. foster a sense of forgiveness or reconciliation